How does the baggage coverage work with travel insurance?

Trip insurance is a must-have for travelers worried about baggage

Lost baggage can ruin an entire trip, and even delays can cause unneeded stress. Your baggage can also suffer rips or tears, or the contents can be damaged beyond repair. If any of these happen on your next trip, how will you make sure the entire vacation is not ruined?

Baggage coverage protects against lost, stolen, damaged, or delayed bags

Most package plans include coverage for baggage, ranging anywhere from $500 all the up to $2500. This is enough coverage to buy new clothes, pay for a lost camera, or get new luggage.

Typical coverage includes:

• Loss
• Theft
• Damage
• Destruction

This coverage applies to travel baggage, as well as passports, visas, and other travel documents. This will provide a lot of peace of mind in a foreign country.

Some items are excluded from baggage coverage, including:

• Animals
• property used in trade, business or for the production of income
• household furniture, musical instruments, brittle or fragile articles
• sporting equipment if the loss results from the use thereof
• artificial limbs or other prosthetic devices, artificial teeth, dental bridges, dentures, dental braces, retainers or other orthodontic devices, hearing aids, any type of eyeglasses, sunglasses or contact lenses
• documents or tickets, except for administrative fees required to reissue tickets
• money, stamps, stocks and bonds, postal or money orders, securities, accounts, bills, deeds, food stamps or credit cards
• contraband

Each company has different specific policy wording in regards to baggage coverage, so it is important to read your certificate thoroughly. There are some general guidelines however.
Tips to get the most out of travel insurance baggage coverage:

• inventory your baggage and belongings, write down a total value
• when shopping for a policy, find a plan that matches your baggage value
• receipts are very important in case of a claim. Many plans pay only 75% of estimated value for items without receipts (to adjust for depreciation)
• in case of a loss, notify the local authorities and get documentation
• also in case of a loss, contact your insurance company as soon as possible, and make any claims in a timely fashion

Here is a table listing the baggage coverage provided by major travel insurance companies. As you can see, some companies offer different plans under different names. The difference is usually some sort of policy upgrade, which provides more coverage for more premium.